Sequential use of real-time polymerase chain reaction and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay techniques verifies adulteration of fermented sausages with chicken meat

Abstract

Objective: Detection of adulteration in processed meats is an important issue for some countries due to substitution of beef with a cheaper source of protein like poultry. In this study, the presence of chicken meat was investigated using real-time polymerase chain reaction (Real-time PCR) and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) techniques to verify adulteration of fermented sausage samples.Methods: A total of 60 commercial samples were collected from 20 establishments in three replicates including 10 fermented sausage manufacturers and 10 butchers to investigate the presence of chicken meat with the sequential use of Real-time PCR and ELISA techniques. In addition pH, moisture content, water activity, and color and textural propertiesvalues of the samples were determined.Results: Both Real-time PCR and ELISA showed agreement on the presence or absence of chicken meat in 55 out of 60 fermented sausage samples and chicken meat was identified with both methods in 16 samples. Five samples produced inconsistent results for the presence of the chicken meat in the first run. Nevertheless the presence of chicken meat was verified with the both methods when these samples were analyzed for the second time. In addition, the average physico-chemical values of the fermented sausage samples tested positive for chicken meat were not significantly different from some of those fermented sausage samples tested negative for the chicken meat. Conclusion:The sequential use of Real-time PCR and ELISA techniques in fermented sausages could be beneficial for the government testing programs in order to eliminate false negatives for detection of adulteration with chicken meat. Furthermore, consumers would should not rely on some of the quality cues including color to predict the adulteration of fermented sausages with chicken meat since there were no statistical differences between among some of the samples tested positive and negative for chicken meat.

Incorporating bay leaf extract (Laurus nobilis L.) and determining the quality attributes of Turkish fermented sausage (sucuk)

“…None of the treatments had a significant effect on the moisture contents of sucuks during production, indicating that the addition of bay leaf extracts produced similar moisture contents to the control and AA groups. The previous studies (Benli & Barutcu, 2021 ; Con & Gökalp, 1998 ; Siriken et al., 2009 ) indicated that sucuk samples collected from the different regions in Turkey had highly variable moisture contents (20.96%–50.49%). Nonetheless, in this study, variation of the moisture contents in sucuk samples was in the expected ranges for manufacturing a traditional fermented sucuk (moisture content of <40%) even after the incorporation of bay leaf extracts when compared to the control and AA groups, which indicated a lack of standardized manufacturing methods for sucuks in the Turkish market.…”

“…The hardness of the sausage begins to rise at a pH of 5.4 and continues to rise progressively until the pH drops to 4.9. Although most of the studies in the literature indicated a high level of variability among the pH values (4.53–6.74) of sucuk samples collected from the Turkish market (Benli, 2017 ; Benli & Barutcu, 2021 ; Erkmen & Bozkurt, 2004 ; Gençcelep et al., 2008 ), in this study, pH decreases were in the expected ranges for manufacturing a traditional fermented sucuk, and the incorporation of bay leaf extract produced similar pH values when compared to control and AA samples.…”

“…None of the treatments had a significant effect on the moisture contents of sucuks during production, indicating that the addition of bay leaf extracts produced similar moisture contents to the control and AA groups. The previous studies (Benli & Barutcu, 2021;Con & Gökalp, 1998;Siriken et al, 2009) indicated that sucuk samples collected from the different regions in Turkey had highly variable moisture contents (20.96%-50.49%).…”

Visual Detection of Chicken Adulteration Based on a Lateral Flow Strip-PCR Strategy

“…Furthermore, the amplification capacity of nucleic acids can improve the detection sensitivity of corresponding DNA analytical methods. Commonly used nucleic acid-based detection methods include polymerase chain reaction (PCR) [ 13 ], real-time fluorescent PCR [ 14 ], digital PCR [ 15 ], multiplex PCR [ 16 ], loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) [ 17 ], cross-priming amplification (CPA) [ 18 ], and recombinase polymerase amplification (RPA) [ 19 , 20 ]. PCR is considered the “gold standard” for identifying adulterated meat products and has been successfully employed to identify beef, lamb, pork, and chicken [ 21 ].…”